Colorado Tuesday: Notes

With only two weeks left in the regular season, the Trojans are pushing through despite a banged up roster.

USC head coach Clay Helton's lengthy injury report: TE Tyler Petite (day-to-day with a shoulder injury), DE Rasheem Green (limited by a shoulder injury), OLB Connor Murphy (day-to-day with a hip pointer), DE Christian Rector (did conditioning work), CB Iman Marshall (limited practice), LB Juliano Falaniko (thigh injury), OLB Uchenna Nwosu (held out with ankle injury), PK Chase McGrath (held with groin injury), LT Toa Lobendahn (held with sore knees) and RB Vavae Malepeai (returned to practice).

More from Helton: Marshall and Malepeai, who both missed last week's game, showed "good signs" and could return this week. OLB Porter Gustin is "doubtful" to play against Colorado.

With McGrath's groin issue, punter Reid Budrovich will handle kickoffs on Saturday.

The Trojans moved up to No. 11 in the new College Football Playoff rankings, but Helton is focused on Colorado and clinching the Pac-12 South. "Add 'em all up at the end and see where you are at," the head coach said about the playoff.

USC's rushing yards are adding up quickly, including 331 last week, thanks to an improved offensive line. "Just real good communication, making sure we get all of the calls right," RT Chuma Edoga explained the biggest area of growth. "During the beginning of the season, we had some trouble with that, but I feel like going on, we started to fix that stuff."

The offensive line continues to be banged up, but the Trojans can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. "We've had a lot of guys step up, a lot of guys play through injuries. I feel like we're just toughing it out, trying to finish the season," Edoga said. "Just got to stay focused on the task at hand. The finish line is right there, we've just got to finish through it. No lackadaisical. Just finish through."

RB Ronald Jones II continues to be the biggest beneficiary of the holes created by the men up front. "Offensive line came out with a mindset of being physical and imposing our will on the defense," Jones said about the Arizona game.

Jones racked up a career-high 27 carries as OC Tee Martin kept calling his number. Martin could tell by the running back's body language that he wanted more carries, so he gave them to him. Jones finished with 194 yards rushing and 3 TD. "He can accelerate through a hole better than anyone I've ever had," Martin said about Jones.

With another decent Saturday, Jones will surpass Reggie Bush and LenDale White on USC's all-time rushing list. "It's amazing. I can't even think of the words to describe it," Jones said. "Ultimately, it don't really matter until we bring back that championship tradition, so that's what we're trying to do this year."

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